Mongolian Beef

There used to be the best Chinese take-out place back home called Beijing but they closed up shop within the last five years and my parents haven’t been able to find anything as good.

And neither have I. I would always order the Mongolian Beef. And when Beijing wasn’t available to me after I left home I haven’t been able to find a Mongolian Beef recipe even close – in fact, I’ve not even enjoyed it when I’ve tried other restaurants’ versions! As a result my Chinese take-out order has changed to either Sesame Chicken or Orange Chicken.

I’ve been saving Mongolian Beef recipes on foodgawker for quite some time and with our Stir-Fry-Day Friday menu plan (which hasn’t been as successful as Mexican Monday I hate to admit) I knew it was time to give it a shot.

The Mongolian Beef from Beijing had broccoli in it so I added some broccoli. But I didn’t stop there. I had a little bit of sliced red bell pepper in the fridge and some green beans so I added those in too. Hey, the point of Stir-Fry-Day Friday was to add more veggies into our life!

Another advantage, or so I thought, of doing Stir-Fry-Day Friday was to have veggies and meat that the little man could eat. But I was wary of giving him soy sauce because of the high sodium content, even though we use low-sodium. Soy is also a high allergen, although not one in our family tree.

I finally let him try the Mongolian Beef and he loved it! He wouldn’t eat the bell pepper (which is funny because that was one of the first foods he ate) and the green beans were still pretty crunchy because I like the texture. He loved the beef and even surprised us by grabbing some broccoli on his own.

Mongolian Beef

Ingredients:

1/2 C soy sauce
1/2 C brown sugar
3 garlic cloves, minced (I used 3 tsp Gourmet Garden garlic paste)
2 tsp fresh grated ginger (I used 1 tsp Gourmet Garden lightly dried ginger)
1/2 C plus 2 tsp vegetable oil, divided use
1 lb flank steak, cut into strips across the grain
1/4 C cornstarch
optional veggies: frozen broccoli, red bell pepper, fresh green beans

Steps:

In a small saucepan heat soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, 2 tsp vegetable oil, and 1/2 C water for 5-10 minutes or until thickened.
In a large bowl, toss steak in cornstarch.
In a large skillet or wok heat 1/2 C vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add beef and stir fry until browned and cooked through, 2 minutes. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and discard the oil.
If using, saute veggies in the same skillet. Return the beef to the pan along with the sauce from Step 1. Cook until sauce is thickened and coats the beef and veggies. Serve with white rice.

*This recipe is adapted from Chungah at http://damndelicious.net/2013/10/05/pf-changs-mongolian-beef-copycat-recipe/*

Disclaimer: I received Gourmet Garden product for participating in #HotSummerEats. I have received no additional compensation for this post and the opinions expressed here are my own and the recipe shared in the review of this product was not sponsored.